P The
ERQUIMANS
. ‘WEEKLY
"News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016
County loses some economic
Letters to Santa, IB
50 cents
DEC 2 ■ RECD
mcentives
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
There is one less tool in
the Perquimans County eco
nomic development tool
box.
The N.C. Department of
Commerce has reclassified
the county from Tier 1 to
Tier 2 for 2017. Tier 1 coun
ties are considered the most
economically distressed,
and Tier 3 counties are the
least distressed. The deci-
GOSS HEATH
sion means Perquimans
won’t be eligible for as
much economic develop
ment assistance as it was as
aTier 1.
Perquimans was the only
county in the Albemarle area
to see their status change.
Currituck remains a Tier 2
and Camden, Pasquotank
and Chowan remain Tier 1.
The change won’t have
any immediate impact, ac
cording to Dave Goss, Per
quimans County’s economic
development director. He
said the county hasn’t seen
any new developments
come in because of the Tier
1 status and there aren’t any
projects he knows of in the
pipeline that would depend
on the Tier 1 benefits. Also
over the years the num
ber of tax credits for Tier 1
counties has declined.
What could have tipped
the scales in Perquimans’
favor was a tiny increase in
the five-year poverty rate.
According to the Depart
ment of Commerce, the new
Perquimans rate is 18.8 per
cent. If it had been greater
than 19 percent that would
have made the difference.
“Basically two tenths of
one percent kicked us from
Tier 1,” County Manager
Frank Heath said. “I argued
with the guys at commerce,
that Pitt (County) is Tier 2,
Craven (County) is Tier 2
and Perquimans County has
no business being Tier 2.”
Heath also points out
the new Tier numbers are
based on older tax assess
ment data. The new figures
show property values in
Perquimans are down. The
new data won’t be factored
in until Commerce looks
at the Tier data in the next
ranking, at which point Per
quimans should once again
be Tier 1.
Goss said the economic
incentive system is flawed.
“They ought to just do
away with the whole Tier
system,” he said.
There have been calls in
See TIER, 2
Art Winners
Schools
Left, Shimicia
Modlin,
first place
Perquimans
County
Middle
School.
Right, Kolton
Christian,
First Grade,
Perquimans
Central
School.
Litzy Lara Seivan, fourth grade, Hertford Grammar School
Jessicah Brown, 11th grade, Perquimans County High School.
buy old
engine
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
For the past 22 years, Engine No.
31 has been there to battle fires in
Hertford and surrounding areas.
Now it’s entering semi-retire
ment.
The Town of Hertford has agreed
to sell the 1994 Freightliner to the
Perquimans County school system.
The schools have agreed to pay
$45,000 over the next six years.
Engine 31 was declared surplus
this summer when the town bought
a new ladder truck to replace it.
Given its age, Engine 31 was consid
ered too old for use as a front-line
piece of equipment by fire rating
agencies.
But Engine 31 is just perfect to
teach fire fighting students, ac
cording to Michael Cartwright, the
instructor of the Fire Academy at
Perquimans County High School.
“Getting the truck is a huge deal,”
Cartwright said last week. “It’s go
ing to give students the pride of tak
ing ownership of having a truck.”
The school has used Engine 31
from time to time for training, but
it had to schedule with the Hert
ford Fire Department and the fire
department’s needs obviously came
first.
See ENGINE, 2
Amy Parker
(right) gets
a hug after
being Regional
Teacher of the
Year. Parker
teaches at
Hertford
Grammar
School. She’ll
now go on to
compete on
the statewide
level.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Parker named regional teacher of year
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Math teacher Amy Parker
isn’t quite one in a million.
But she is one of the eight
public school teachers in North
Carolina to be named Regional
Teacher of the Year this year.
Since are there 98,000 public
school teachers in the state if
you can’t figure the math out,
Parker can probably help you.
She’s helped more than a hun
dreds of students in her 29 year
career as a math teacher.
And she still loves it.
The Hertford Grammar
School teacher got the surprise
news on the award last week.
Sonya Rinehart, the state’s re
gional education facilitator for
the northeast region showed up
dressed up in the panther suit.
Yes, a panther suit. The gram
mar’s school mascot is a pan ¬
ther.
“We always do a surprise an
nouncement and make it fun,”
Rinehart said.
When HGS Principal Jason
Griffin told Rinehart the school
had a panther suit, Rinehart she
knew that was the perfect stunt.
“When I pulled that head piece
off you could tell she knew she’d
won. She just hugged me and
See PARKER, 2
Board hears lighting proposal
Woodard Sworn In
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
(Second of two parts)
“Friday Night Lights” at
Perquimans County High
School football games could
look very different in the fu
ture.
The board may be build
ing a new athletic complex
in the future and Superin
tendent Matthew Cheese
man asked Dina Neeley to
give some ideas on how to
6 89076 47144 2
illuminate it. *
Neeley, a consultant for
Musco Lighting, made a
presentation to the Perqui
mans County School Board
earlier this fall. Cheeseman
worked with Musco when
he was Chief Academic Of
ficer with the Washington
County Schools and a new
lighting system was devel
oped for Plymouth High
School.
Neeley mentioned the
movie “Friday Night Lights”
when she described how
athletic fields have been tra
ditionally been lit.
The traditional practice
involved putting a spun
metal reflector with a metal
halide lights on a wood pole.
Driving to a game you could
see the glow of lighting in
the sky long before you ac
tually got to the stadium,
she said.
“Twenty two years ago
about 20 percent of the
lighting went to the field
and about 80 percent went
into the sky,” Neeley said.
“We want to put 75 percent
of the light on the field.”
While there are only a
few homes directly next to
the new athletic complex
site, reducing the amount
of stray light is an issue for
both the neighbors and for
See LIGHTS, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Charles Woodard (left) is sworn in as a Perquimans County Commissioner last
week by his son, magistrate Drew Woodard (right). Holding the Bible is Harriett
Woodard.